Executive Producer Ira Levy recently set up the Toronto-based SPIKE & SADIE MEDIA, a film and television production company. The newly formed venture focuses on developing and producing both scripted and unscripted projects in collaboration with Canadian and international creatives who bring a distinct and clear voice to their storytelling. Levy is a veteran of the Canadian screen industry, having founded Breakthrough Entertainment in 1985 and produced a slew of award-winning television series and films over the past four decades. 

Under Levy’s stewardship, Breakthrough became an award-winning producer and distributor of original, premium content for audiences around the world. Breakthrough’s library boasted 50-plus feature films and 3,000 television episodes which aired on major networks and digital channels worldwide. It was recognized with multiple international awards including numerous Geminis, Canadian Screen Awards and Canadian Comedy Awards.

As an Executive Producer, Levy’s work includes the innovative hit crime drama Blood and Water, the HBO Canada comedy Less Than Kind, and the Showcase soap Paradise Falls; unscripted series Kenny vs. Spenny and History channel’s Greatest Tank Battles; animated Teletoon and MTV series Crash Canyon and Rocket Monkeys; children’s series The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon, Nickelodeon’s Max and Shred and TVOKids’ Science Max: Experiments at Large; and films L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables for PBS and Corus, The Oak Room and Vicious Fun. 

Levy has partnered on co-productions with companies in countries around the world including the U.K., France, Brazil, the Philippines and New Zealand and has worked with renowned networks, broadcasters and distributors including NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Disney, Hallmark, National Geographic, Lifetime, Comedy Central, the BBC, TF1 and Arte, among others. In Canada, Levy has collaborated with the CBC, Bell Media, Rogers Media, Corus Entertainment and TVOntario.

Levy was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his producing work on Universal Kids’ The Big Fun Crafty Show and has won several Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Children’s or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series for Science Max: Experiments at Large between 2017 and 2019 and Best Comedy Program or Series in 2013 for Less Than Kind.